Southern Star

Chapter Eleven: I Can See Them Bursting

With Hakoda's return, Sokka was able to give his father back the mantle of leadership so that he and Toph could go with the Avatar. This had been decided while Song and Tongyi had gone off to find her aunt, and when she returned, it was to the directive to stay with Katara and Hakoda to ensure the success of the rest of the invasion—a directive that Song was relieved to accept. If the Capital really was abandoned, then she wasn't going to have to face any members of the royal family. The thought of seeing Zuko again, especially in this context, was unbearable.

She was also able to give them the news that her aunt did not know where the bunker was, but that most of the Fire Nation nobility had been called to gather that very morning in preparation for the eclipse. Sokka was disappointed by this, but Toph was confident in her abilities, and Aang and Sokka seemed to be, too, so Song wasn't worried about them finding it. She remembered Toph discovering the existence of the crystal catacombs deep beneath the ground of Ba Sing Se, and she knew that the three of them would be just fine.

The ascent up the path of the volcano was a difficult one. The Invasion force consistently pushed the Fire Nation army back again and again, but as they started up the winding path, the tanks and unarmored personnel were under heavy fire. Luckily, they had prepared for this. Song was once again impressed by the forethought demonstrated by the Mechanist and the general invasion force as they created a wall out of the warriors' shields and used it as a massive ceiling against the fire from the army and from the battlements higher up the path.

The earthbenders knew what they were doing, too. Song got the privilege of watching them use their bending to create landslides that led to the battlements' collapse.

She heard the call for retreat, and she looked up to the sky, which was darker. The black shape of the moon was slowly moving in front of the sun. Despite the negative impacts of The Day of Black Sun on the Fire Nation and its navy, a context she had grown up learning about, she had always been fascinated by the way that the moon covered the sun perfectly—and for the first time in her life, she was going to be able to see it.

"The eclipse is only minutes away!" she heard Bato shout. "We should be able to make it up the hill by the time it starts and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished!"

The warriors cheered, and Song, who had remained with Katara and Hakoda so as best to protect them, joined in, her voice raspy from the smoke and yelling. She'd thought that betraying her homeland would feel different. But she had the support of an army behind her, and she could feel little more than exhilaration. Tongyi was constantly nearby, flying away and then returning again. He didn't seem to care about the eclipse.

Hakoda stopped for a moment, and Katara said, "We can wait here if you want."

"No," he replied. "I want to press forward with the others."

And with that, the three of them kept moving along with the lines of tanks and warriors. Song saw Ying help bring the battlements down, and she smiled.

Zuko stood before the iron door, reluctance heavy on his heart. As much as he knew he had to make this decision, he was terrified of what was about to happen, and what he would need to do after. But he had the words of his uncle to guide him and a lightness in his heart that he hadn't felt since waking up from his sickness in Ba-Sing-Se. The knot in his stomach, however, would likely remain for a long while.

He bowed his head, and to brace himself, he whispered, "I'm ready to face you."

And with that, he opened the door to a line of Imperial Guards waiting before his father.

Fire Lord Ozai looked up from his tea. "Prince Zuko," he said. "What are you doing here?"

The sky continued to grow dark until finally the call came down the line to put the glasses on. The eclipse glasses were specially designed by the Mechanist to protect the wearers' eyes from the harmful effects of the full solar eclipse. They were made of wood with slits filled with dark glass, and as they put them on, Song and Katara and Hakoda stopped to look at the sun, or lack thereof.